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Characters:
Narrator
John Corlies, Quaker slave owner
His daughter
Titus, later Captain Tye and Colonel Tye
Man
Officer
Scenes:
Home of John Corlies in Shrewsbury, Monmouth County, New Jersey
Road to New York
Captain Tye's command post
The scene is the Corlies farmhouse. John Corlies enters from stage left. He is one of the few remaining slaveholders in Monmouth County. His daughter is standing center stage with her back to the audience. She turns downstage when he speaks to her. Stage right is the right side of the stage as the actors face the audience. Stage left is the left side. Center stage is the center. Downstage is toward the audience. During the play the actors playing Titus (Tye) and the Man freeze between scenes.
NARRATOR
In November 1775 John Murray, Earl of Dunmore and royal governor of Virginia, issued a proclamation that offered freedom to slaves who would leave their Patriot masters and join the royal forces. It was Dunmore's hope that his own force of 300 soldiers, seamen, and loyalist recruits, cut off from the support of British troops in Boston, would be reinforced by black fighting men and laborers.
JOHN CORLIES
Where is Titus?
DAUGHTER
I don't know, sir. Is he not in the barn?
JOHN CORLIES
Don't be a fool, girl. If he were in the barn I would not ask thee where he is.
DAUGHTER
I don't know where he is, father. Do you want me to go search for him?
JOHN CORLIES
(Furious) Of course I want thee to search for him!
DAUGHER LEAVES. CORLIES PACES. DAUGHTER RETURNS.
DAUGHTER
I'm sorry, father. Titus appears to be gone.
JOHN CORLIES
Gone! What do you mean Gone?
DAUGHTER
I mean, father, that he is no longer here. The other slaves said he heard of Lord Dunmore's Proclamation and has fled to join the British forces and earn his freedom.
JOHN CORLIES
His freedom-I'll give him freedom when I catch him.
DAUGHTER
Titus is 22 years old, Father. According to our own Society of Friends, he should have been freed when he reached his 21st birthday.
JOHN CORLIES
Watch your tongue, young lady, when thee speaks to thy father. Because I am a good Quaker does not mean I should be a weak master. Freeing slaves is a foolish and expensive idea. I'll have no part of it. (Pause) I'll offer a reward for him. Someone will turn him in, and when he is returned to me, I'll make him sorry he ran away.
DAUGHTER
(Softly but clearly) In that case, I hope he is not caught. (BOTH EXIT.)
NARRATOR
On November 8, 1775, John Corlies placed an ad offering a reward of three pounds for the return of his slave Titus "not very black; near 6 feet high, had a grey homespun coat, brown breeches, blue and white stockings, had with him a wallet, drawn up at one end with a string, in which was a quantity of clothes."
TITUS IS WALKING stage left to stage right WITH ANOTHER MAN, TITUS IS CARRYING A BAG ON A ROPE.
TITUS
So, I hear my old master has a reward out for me. You could earn three pounds if you turn me in.
MAN
I ain't no fool, Titus. I want to go with you and fight so I can be a free man.
TITUS
Never call me Titus again. From this day on, I'm Tye, slave to no man. (Looks around) I will be back in Monmouth County one day. I know this place well, the swamps, the woods, the twisting paths. It may be that John Corlies won't want to see me again.
NARRATOR
Titus, now known as Tye, joined the Loyalist forces in Virginia. In three years Tye had become Captain Tye, the pride of Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment. In June 1778 he led his Loyalist troops in the Battle of Monmouth.
(Tye and the Man are center stage.)
CAPTAIN TYE
How many men do we have ready for battle?
MAN
Around 600, sir, black and white. Waiting your orders.
CAPTAIN TYE
Any prisoners we capture should be taken to New York to the Sugar House. Burn the houses; free all the slaves.
(Man exits and then returns with a Patriot officer.)
MAN
Captain, we've captured an officer from the Monmouth militia. Here he is.
OFFICER
I know you, you're no captain. You're Titus, John Corlies' slave from over at Shrewsbury.
CAPTAIN TYE
I'm no man's slave, and you, sir, are my prisoner. The title "captain" was bestowed on me by the British army out of respect. And, "Captain," how many slaves are fighting on your side?
OFFICER
(Scornfully) I'm proud to say not a single one.
CAPTAIN TYE
We'll see how proud you are when you are imprisoned in the Sugar House.
OFFICER
We fight for our independence.
CAPTAIN TYE
Men like me who fight for our freedom fight even harder.
Man takes the Officer out stage right. Tye freezes center stage until after narrator speaks.
NARRATOR
July 1779 saw Tye gathering his forces for an important raid. He led his men with daring and efficiency.
MAN
(Grinning) Captain, the men are ready for the raid on Shrewsbury.
CAPTAIN TYE
I counted several of our force who come from this area. I guess my motley crew knows the lay of the land pretty well. We can strike quickly and disappear.
MAN
Sir, it ain't just for what we can take for our men. You know that. A lot of it is for getting even.
CAPTAIN TYE
So, we'll steal what we can carry, free the slaves, get paid five gold guineas for each militia man we capture, and get even all at the same time. We'll make it a worthwhile summer.
(Captain and Man freeze until narrator finishes.)
NARRATOR
The summer raids were successful and the freed slaves joined the British. During the harsh winter of 1779, Tye was among an elite group of 24 black loyalists, known as the Black Brigade, who joined with the Queen's Rangers, a British guerrilla unit, to protect New York City and to conduct raids for food and fuel. June 1780 proved how valuable Colonel Tye had become to the British.
MAN
Colonel Tye, sir, New Jersey's Governor Livingston's declared martial law.
COLONEL TYE
It won't make any difference. We stopped Joseph Murray from ever executing another captured Tory. We captured Barnes Smock and destroyed their cannon; we captured eight militiamen in a single day and took them to New York. No one saw us coming. No one stopped us and we didn't lose a man.
MAN
The men gladly follow your lead, sir. Where do we go next?
COLONEL TYE
A surprise attack on the home of Captain Josiah Huddy. No one else has been able to capture that hated Patriot leader. Now, it's our turn.
MAN
Sir, Huddy and his men have been holding us off for two hours. What can we do?
COLONEL TYE
Start a fire to drive them out.
(Winces with pain and grabs his wrist, where he has been shot.)
MAN
Sir, you're hurt.
COLONEL TYE
It's nothing. Give me something to wrap around my wrist. We must finish what we set out to do!
NARRATOR
The fire flushed Josiah Huddy and his followers out of the house. He was later hanged in 1782. The minor wound Colonel Tye suffered became fatal when lockjaw set in. Days later, Colonel Tye died. His reputation lived on and the Patriots agreed that the war would have been won much sooner if Colonel Tye had fought on the side of the Americans.
Questions for discussion
- Why was John Corlies' refusal to free Titus so unusual?
- Do you think Tye was an effective military leader? What makes you think so?
- Why do you suppose so many men followed him?
- He fought with the Loyalists in the war. Can we still consider him a hero?
- What could the Patriots have done to get him on the American side?
- Can you name a respected military leader helping America's cause today? What makes that person both effective and respected?
Vocabulary to understand
- proclamation
- recruits
- Quakers (The Society of Friends)
- reinforcements
- bestowed
- honorary title
- lockjaw
Acting Tips
In order to make this play easy to produce, use all three parts of the stage area. Stage right and stage left are the right hand and left hand sides of the stage as the actors face the audience. Center stage is the middle.
No set is really required. When a complicated full-length play is produced, special set designers come up with backgrounds and elaborate furnishings for the stage. For a simple story, imagination is a wonderful thing.
A few props could be used (props are the things actors handle), for example, John Corlies' daughter could be sitting in a rocking chair sewing when her father bursts in at the beginning, but that isn't absolutely necessary. Tye should have a bundle of clothes tied with a rope for the scene when he runs away. A rag to wrap his injured wrist would make the last scene more realistic.
Costumes should be kept simple. The daughter would wear a long dress or a long-sleeved blouse and a long skirt. The men in the play would wear dark pants (blue jeans hadn't been invented yet) and shirts. The patriot officer should have a blue jacket (maybe borrowed from the band).
A possible drama you can make up
Sometimes it is fun to make up your own play based on what you have learned in doing this one. One person could pretend to be Titus, and talk about what it feels like to be a slave. How would you feel when you heard about Dunmore's Proclamation? How would you feel about John Corlies? What would be your motive in joining the Loyalists?
Or, imagine you are Colonel Tye and you meet a black man who is helping the American Patriots. What might your conservation be?
Or, maybe you might be "the Man" who joins Tye on the road. Where do you think you are going? Why are you going with Tye instead of turning him in for the reward?
Or, you could be any character--John Corlies, or his daughter. Talk about what you think about Tye and how you feel about what the Loyalists did. Were you afraid when you found out he had brought his army back to Monmouth County? If you were the Patriot captain would you be afraid to go to the Sugar House in New York?
Or, pretend it is today. Someone you meet is the same ethnicity that you are. You have very different opinions about a situation in your school, neighborhood, or another country in the world. What is the situation and what are your different perspectives? Explore the other person's point of view. Find out your areas of agreement and disagreement. Can you respect why they see things differently from you?
When we put ourselves in someone else's place we begin to understand them better. Give it a try.
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